Chair attachment



y 1958 B. F. THOMPSON 2,841,211

CHAIR ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 2, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BURL E THOMPSON ATTORNEYS July 1, 1958 4B. F. THOMPSON CHAIR ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1957 INVENTOR.

BURL F THOMPSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent CHAIR ATTACHMENT Burl F. Thompson, Ada, ()kla., assignor to Thompson Manufacturing Company, Ada, Okla., a corporation of Oklahoma Application December 2, 1957, Serial No. 699,961

3 Claims. (Cl. 155-188) This invention relates to chair attachments, and more particularly to attachments in the nature of containers, for example book boxes, or other accessories adapted to be mounted on chairs or similar articles of furniture.

It is common for churches, :schools, and other organizations to augment their seating capacities from time to time by setting up extra chairs, particularly folding chairs. Usually, such chairs are not equipped with accessories, such as article holders, as are many chairs of permanently set nature and placement. The lack of accessories of the kind referred to is frequently inconvenient.

An object of the present invention is to provide a chair or the like accessory or attachment of improved construction enabling it easily to be mounted upon or attached to, and just as easily removed from a chair or the like, for example a folding chair of more or less conventional form.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction of the class referred to including relatively extensible and collapsible elements which, in one condition of being collapsed or extended, may be placed in registration with spaced retaining surfaces on a chair or the like, and which, in another condition of being collapsed or extended, engage the retaining surfaces and securely connect the attachment to the chair or the like.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following description, the appended claims, and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a folding chair with an attachment embodying the invention in preferred form secured to the chair back structure;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the parts in the relative positions occupied when the attachment is securely lockedto the chair back structure;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1, but showing the attachment and related parts in the relative positions occupied at an intermediate stage of applying the attachment to the chair;

'Figure 4 is a rear elevational view of the attachment, drawn on an enlarged scale withsome of the parts broken away and others shown in section; and t Figure 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

An attachment A embodying the invention in its pre ferred form .is shown in Figures 1 and 2 asbeing secured to a folding chair C of conventional construction and of the kind often used inchurches, schools and auditoriums. The chair C includes front legs 1 and rear legs 2 connected in any suitable manner to the chair seat for enabling the chair to be folded for transportion or storage or to be set up for use as indicated in Figure 1. The front legs 1 form parts of a combined front leg and chair back frame structure constituted by a U-shaped member 3, the upper generally horizontal cross part 4 of which is generally circular in cross-section. A back panel 5, formed for example of sheet metal, is supported by the U-shaped structure 3 and for this purpose is provided along its upper edge with an arcuately dished flange 6 which fits and may be welded to the frame cross part 4, the side edges of the panel 5 being secured to the sides of the U-shaped structure 4 in any suitable manner, as for example by welding. The panel 5 is provided with a stiffening part along its lower edge, as shown a rolled bead part '7 generally circular in cross-section and providing a trough-like depression 8 between the bead 7 and the bottom of the panel 5. The bead part 7 and the dished flange 6 thus provide two mutually opposed vertically spaced surfaces facing toward one another for cooperation with attachment parts hereinafter described for securing the attachment A to the chair C.

The attachment A comprises generally an article or body 9, and means carried thereby for cooperation with the opposed surfaces on the parts 6 and 8 of the chair back structure for securing the body 9 to the rear of the chair back. In the construction shown, the body 9 is a book box, container or receptacle formed of sheet metal to include a bottom 10, a rear wall 11, and side walls 12. The book container or receptacle may optionally include an envelope and pencil holder 13 secured to the rear wall 11 by ears integral with the holder 13 and extending under mounting portions 14 pressed out from the rear wall 11. The book box bottom 10 is curved concavely along its front edge as shown at 10 in Figure 5 to fit snugly against the back panel 5.

In accordance with the invention, the attachment A includes elements mounted on the receptacle body 9 for movement relatively to one another so as to permit the elements to be collapsed for enabling them to be moved between the opposed retaining surfaces 6 and 78 on the chair and then extended so as to bring retaining surfaces on the elements respectively into retaining engagement withthe surfaces 6 and 78. In the preferred embodiment there is provided at each side of the receptacle body i a pair of link elements 15-16 one, 15, of which is secured to the inner surface of the adjacent side wall 12 and the other, 16, of which is pivotally connected to the element 15 by a pin 17 which may be constituted by a rivet or, as shown, a bolt. The links 15 are secured to the inner surfaces of the respectively associated walls 12, as for example by spot welding, and thus serve to reinforce the side walls 12 as well as to function in connecting the book receptacle 9 to the chair back as explained below. Since the links 15 are secured to the receptacle side walls 12, the latter, in effect, form parts of links. The arrangement shown in which separate link elements 15 are secured to the side walls 12 is preferred, but it will be apparent that, if desired, the side walls 12 could be made sufliciently heavy and stiif to function as links without reinforcement. In the preferred construction in which separate link or reinforcement parts 15 are employed, the bottom of the container 9 is slotted as at 1818 for enabling the lower portions of the link elements 1515 to project below the container bottom.

The links 15 and 16 are formed respectively with spaced mutually opposed retaining portions which face away from one another and which are adapted respectively to be moved into retaining engagement with the spaced surfaces provided by the chair portions 78 and 6. In

order to insure firm locking engagement of the parts, the retaining portions on the links 16 are formed as concavely arcuate depressions 16 in the upper ends of the links 16 adapted to mate with the dished flange 6, which, in effect, constitutes a part of the chair back structure upper cross member 4; and the retaining portions on the links 15 are formed as narrowed lower ends 15 adapted to fit into the depression 8 at the bottom of the chair back panel 5.

In order to secure the attachment A to the chair C, the attachment parts, including the link elements 15 and 16, are relatively positioned as shown in Figure 3, with links 16 having been turned in one sense relatively to the links so as, in effect, to collapse the links with attendant shortening of the distance between the retaining portions 15 and 16 so that this distance will be less than the vertical distance between the chair structure retaining surfaces 6 and 78. With the link elements so posi tioned, the retaining portions 15 at the bottom of the links 15 are inserted into the trough-like .depression 8 and the entire attachment assembly is tipped counterclockwise as viewed in Figure 3 to move the retaining portions 16 of the links 16 transversely of the axes of the pivots 17 into registration with the retaining surface 6,,but disposed below and disengaged from the latter. Then the links 16 are turned reversely in the opposite sense, that is clockwise about their pivots 17 with attendant extension of the link pairs and increasing of the distance between the retaining portions 15 and 16 thus bringing these portions firmly into retaining engagement with the back structure surfaces 7 and 6.

In order that the links cannot accidentally be displaced from their attaching positions shown in Figures 1 and 2, the container sides 12 are formed respectively with releasable holding means, in the form shown outwardly pressed catches generally designated 19. Each comprises a rearwardly facing rounded surface 19 and forwardly facing surface 19* projecting straight outwardly from the associated side wall 12. The arrangement is such that Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2, the lower end of the link is sprung or bent slightly outwardly from the adjacent side wall 12 by the camming action of the curved catch portion 19 until the rear edge of the link 16 has passed in front of the straight catch edge 19 whereupon when each link 16 is moved from the position shown in the lower part of the link snaps inwardly against the side walls 12 and in front of the catch 19, thus locking the links in attachment retaining engagement with the chair. The attachment A, although thus being securely 'held or locked against accidental displacement, may be removed by forcibly springing the lower ends of the links 16 outwardly beyond the catches 19, and rocking the links 16 counterclockwise to the positions shown in Figure 3.

Constructions embodying the invention may, if desired, be easily adapted for adjustment to fit different chairs in which the upper and lower retaining surfaces, in the form shown the surfaces provided by the parts 6 and 7, are variously spaced. For enabling adjustment according to different attaching conditions, the links 1 6 may be provided with a plurality of spaced pin receiving openings 20, any selected ones of which may receive the pivot pin 17 so as to determine different lengths of the link pairs 1516 and thus vary the effective distance between the retaining portions 15 and 16 on the links. Removal of the pivot pin 17 from a pin receiving opening or seat 20 for adjusting the link pairs in this manner may be facilitated by employing detachable bolts as the pivot pins. When it is known that for a particular field of use it will not be necessary to adjust the link pairs, the pins 17 may be constituted by rivets or any other suitable relatively permanent pivoting and link attaching devices.

The construction shown embodies the invention in a preferred form, but it isintended that the disclosure be illustrative rather than definitive, the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. An attachment for a chair including a structure having mutually opposed surfaces facing toward one another, said attachment comprising a body; on each of two opposite sides of said body, a link pair, each link pair comprising two links, one fixed with respect to said body, and a pivotal connection between said two links, said links having spaced mutually opposed retaining portions facing away from one another, said pivotal connection enabling relative collapsing of said links with attendant shortening of the distance between said retaining portions to an extent permitting insertion of said links between said opposed surfaces of the chair structure, said pivotal connection also enabling reverse relative movement of said links with attendant relative extension of said links and lengthening of the distance between said retaining portions for effecting retaining engagement of said retaining portions respectively with said surfaces; and, on each side of said body, a catch engageable with one of the links of the link pair on that side for retaining the links in their relatively extended positions.

2. An attachment for a chair structure having mutually opposed surfaces facing in opposite directions, said attachment comprising a receptacle having a bottom and rear and said walls; and, on each of said side walls, a link pair, each link pair comprising a link connected to said receptacle and a pivotal connection between the two links of said pair, said links having retaining portions facing oppositely to one another and being adapted respectively to engage said opposed surfaces, relative pivotal movement of said links in one sense being effective for moving said retaining portions relatively to one another in one direction to spaced positions enabling said retaining portions to be moved transversely to the axis of said pivotal connection into registration with but disengaged from said opposed surfaces respectively, and relative pivotal movement of said links in the opposite sense being effective for moving said retaining portions relatively to one another in the opposite direction and into'retaining engagement with said opposed surfaces respectively.

3. An attachment for a chair having a back structure including a generally horizontal upper cross part of generally circular cross section and a generally horizontal lower cross part formed with a generally horizontal trough-like depression spaced below said upper cross part, said attachment comprising a receptacle having a bottom and rear and side walls; and, on each of said side walls, a link pair, each link pair comprising a link connected to said receptacle, and a pivotal connection between said two links, one of said links having a retaining portion arcuately shaped for engagement with said upper cross part and the other of said links having a retaining portion narrowed for engagement in said depression, said pivotal connection enabling relative collapsing of said link pair withattendant shortening of the distance between said retaining portions to an extent permitting insertion of said link pair between said upper and lower cross parts, said pivotal connection also enabling reverse relative movement of said links with attendant relative extension of said link pair and lengthening of the distance between said retaining portions whereby to effect engagement of said arcuately shaped retaining portion with said upper cross part and engagement of said narrowed retaining portion in said depression.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,226,458 Bargen Dec. 24, 1940 2,706,516 Nordmark Apr. 19, 1955 2,706,517 Dexter et al Apr. 19, 1955 2,748,841 Rimkus June 5, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 49,843 Norway Dec. 7, 1931 

